Monday, June 6, 2011

Homemade Caesar Dressing & Homemade Croutons

If you’ve never attempted to make your own salad dressing, I implore you to try it now. The depth of flavor just cannot be captured in a bottle. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not above using the bottled stuff but sometimes I want to bring something special to the table and this really does the trick.

Especially if the salad is going to be the main star of your meal.

This is a two-for-one special today. I’m also going to share a homemade crouton recipe. They are so easy to make and the great thing about homemade croutons is you won’t break a tooth on them like you do the prepackaged ones.

Ingredients:

2 garlic cloves (if your cloves are on the small side, use 3)

1 cup mayonnaise

1 egg yolk

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp. water

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 tsp. granulated white sugar

½ tsp. Worcestershire sauce

½ tsp. Dijon Mustard

salt & pepper to taste (about ¼ to ½ tsp each)

Directions:In a food processor, finely process the garlic until minced. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Put dressing into a lidded container and pop it into the fridge for a few hours (or overnight) to give the flavors time to blend together (trust me, this makes a BIG difference in taste.)Cook’s Notes: If you are squeamish about using a raw egg yolk in your dressing, I would suggest purchasing pasteurized eggs. However, if you are using very fresh eggs, you should have no problems with your egg yolks. Just crack it into a separate bowl first, to ensure the color and texture look normal for an egg.

Homemade Croutons

Ingredients:

½ loaf of stale French bread, cubed

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Garlic Powder (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F). In a medium bowl, add cubed bread. Drizzle olive oil all over the cubes until lightly coated. Sprinkle on salt, pepper and a little garlic powder.

Place cubes on baking sheet and bake for about 10-14 minutes until lightly browned.

Annie, I don't believe the shelf life for this would be as long as the prepackaged stuff. I think 10 days would probably be about right for this. It only makes a little over a cup of dressing so hopefully you'll get it used up. I've got a recipe coming up soon that you'll be able to use this dressing with! :o)